On the 100th day of the Russian attack, the focus of the fighting in Ukraine was once again in the Donbass.

The Russian forces again concentrated on using superior troops and firepower to break the remaining resistance in the city of Severodonetsk, the administrative center of the Luhansk region.

The region's governor, Serhiy Hajdaj, said on Friday that the city is now almost entirely under Russian control.

However, Ukrainian defenders continued to hold their positions in part of Severodonetsk.

"The city is holding up," says Hajdaj.

Lorenz Hemicker

Editor in Politics

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Severodonetsk and its western twin city of Lysyhansk are the last parts of the Luhansk Oblast under Ukrainian control.

Taking them would be a tactical success for Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the area around Severodonetsk on Friday morning as "currently the most difficult area".

The army is fighting for "every meter" in the Luhansk region.

According to Zelensky, 100 days after the start of the raid, Russia controls a fifth of Ukraine's territory.

In addition to the battle for Severodonetsk, the Washington War Research Institute (ISW) registered other significant battles in the areas around Izyum and Lyman as well as near Popasna in the fighting in the front arc in eastern Ukraine, without any significant progress being made.

Basically, according to the ISW, Russian forces are making progress in Ukraine, but only "gradually, laboriously and costly."

The British Ministry of Defense wrote in its daily situation report on Twitter on Friday that there were tactical successes.

It is to be expected that the Russians will be able to completely control the Luhansk region within two weeks.

But: "Measured against Russia's original plan, none of the strategic goals were achieved."

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry on Friday put the number of Russian casualties since the start of the raid at 30,950 soldiers.

The information cannot be verified.

Kyiv does not put a figure on its own total losses.

According to Zelenskyj, however, around 100 soldiers are currently dying every day in the fighting, and hundreds more people are injured.